Attorney General Tom Horne Attacks the National Labor Relations Board for Undermining the Most Fundamental Principal of Republican Representative Government; Secret Elections

PHOENIX (Monday, January 31, 2011) -- Attorney General Tom Horne says Arizona will not give in to an ultimatum from the National Labor Relations Board that threatens the voter-approved protection of the secret ballot in union elections.

Horne is releasing a response to an NRLB letter that demands that Arizona and three other states stipulate that the so-called “Card Check” referendum, approved by voters in 2010, is unconstitutional.

“Once again, Arizona is being threatened by its own federal government with a lawsuit, Horne stated. “This intimidation by our own elected leaders must stop. The NLRB is making a direct attack on the most fundamental values of representative government; that is to protect the right of every individual to the privacy of a secret ballot. For this federal agency to attack the right of the secret ballot is more than ironic, it’s Orwellian.”

Regarding the importance of secret elections, Horne quoted Sir Winston Churchill, “We must never cease to proclaim in fearless tones the great principles of freedom and the rights of man which are the joint inheritance of the English-speaking world…

All this means that the people of any country have the right, and should have the power by constitutional action, by free unfettered elections, with secret ballot to choose or change the character or form of government under which they dwell…”

As noted in the responsive letter, the NLRB itself has recognized in specific decisions that a “secret ballot is requisite for a free election”

A copy of the original NLRB letter and response by the four states is included.